Magic Light......Is it true?

[DTro]

I was listening to a radio program the other day and the subject du jour was the intensity of the sun.

I guess there are quite a few photogs that are convinced that the "magic light" has become less and less as the years go by, and the intensity of the sun has increased dramatically.

Turns out that there has been some scientific data that supports those claim.

I don't know if I buy it. I sure haven't spent enough time taking pictures, but I've sure spent enough time outdoors to notice any difference, and I haven't noticed any.

Then again, I'm sure the photogs would have a keen sense of that.

Whadya think?

[Steve Foss]

Well, maybe it's true and maybe it's not. Can't really say. I'll tell you though, even if the light has gotten a bit more intense (one must assume those photogs are bemoaning the thinning ozone layer), I still see plenty of the sweet stuff. Low-angle light of morning and evening may be stronger than it used to be, but there are always those days with light clouds to diffuse it, as well as the days when the humidity is so high that the air itself mellows the light.

And, just for the sake of playing the devil's adovcate, if all the air pollution that's causing global warming and the thinning ozone is really there, and produces smog and urban haze, wouldn't said haziness actually weaken the sun's light?